Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Sessionsby Anonymous

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August 10, 2005: Putting aside the unmatched transcendant musical genius part for a moment, this box set is great way to finally get all the historically pivotal recordings of Charlie Parker from about 1945 to 1948 or so. The liner notes, which aren't annoying, give the exact dates of the recordings which are arranged in beautiful chronological order, regardless of label. So if you're into Charlie Parker, this is a good way to sort of follow his progress through these years(in which he basically changed jazz). This includes the alternate takes, which(although they can make casual listening extremely annoying) allow for the study of Charlie Parker's process of editing and re-shaping solos into a perfect one or two chorus statements(which, it can be argued, were ultimately his true compostions). Also, buying the Savoy recordings(with alternates) will otherwise involve the buying of multiple cds in random date order and weird covers -- annoying! This box set is a good way to get all the Savoy, and Dial Bird with one throw of the stone(albeit for a hundred bucks).